Don't expel Arafat 2: The rerun
By Ariel Natan Pasko
web posted July 21, 2003
Like a bad movie on late night TV, we're being exposed to the
inner workings of the Sharon-led Israeli government's policy
processes again. Should he or shouldn't he; should Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat be expelled, deported,
exiled? And like a bad, old, black & white, b-grade western,
where it's so clear who the good guys and the bad guys are; the
guy in the black (and white) keffiya is being told he might be told
to get out of town again. Here we go again, being exposed to the
inept workings of an Israeli government that can't make its mind
up. Either expel him already, or shoot him, or bring him to trial
like Eichmann -- ideas that politicians and pundits have
recommended -- but stop teasing us already!
Israeli politicians have been raising the question of what to do
with Arafat fairly cyclically since the start of Operation Defensive
Shield in April 2002. Israeli intelligence has been advising against
it for a while now, because of the concern that he could do more
damage, floating around the world, as a loose cannon.
Arafat has been sequestered for almost 18 months in his
Mukatah compound in Ramallah. I have to admit that Israel
hasn't yet been "too smart" in dealing with him. Israel should have
long ago cut his access to the telephone, the media and visitors.
Heck, in the Middle Ages, they would have just dumped him in
the dungeon -- if they didn't kill him -- locked away for years,
without any sight or sound of him.
Israel's position has been that he can travel abroad, but might not
be allowed to return. But then every so often they roll out the
"threat" of expelling him. And like that old rerun, we've seen so
many times before, we already know the ending to the story.
There's no drama here, just two tired old men, Sharon and
Arafat, two old adversaries locked in a love-hate relationship of
their own making.
The real question is why do we have to be exposed, like some
voyeur, to their struggles. Put Arafat on trial for crimes against
humanity, i.e. the Jewish people, his war crimes in Lebanon, the
American diplomats he's already admitted years ago to having
ordered killed in Sudan, and all the other victims of his decades
old serial murder spree in the name of Palestinian independence,
and get it over with already!
After having worked hard to prove that Arafat and the "old"
Palestinian Authority government was directly behind ongoing
terrorism in Israel, Sharon has yet to bring himself to a serious
decision about the next step. Catching Arafat and the PA in the
Karine A weapons smuggling scandal, red handed, Sheriff
Sharon has exerted every effort to sideline Arafat in the
diplomatic process. The Feds, Bush and the Americans bought
into it, but the Europeans haven't so much. The Quartet -- the
US, EU, UN and Russia -- proposed the "roadmap process",
called for democratic political reform in the PA, and forced
Arafat to appoint a prime minister, not to replace him but to
displace him.
Who did they appoint prime minister, but Arafat's second-in-
command, co-founder of Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, know as
Abu Mazen. Abu Mazen a holocaust denier, Abu Mazen
implicated in the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli
athletes, Abu Mazen who as late as March 2003 -- just before
his appointment -- called for the killing of Jewish settlers. Abu
Mazen has been portrayed universally as a "peacenik" since
"accepting" the roadmap in April, and attending two summits
with George Bush, in Egypt and Jordan. He's even received an
invitation to the White House, something denied Arafat by Bush.
At a recent meeting with UN envoy Terje Larsen -- no friend of
Israel -- Arafat accused PA Prime Minister Abbas of "betraying
the interests of the Palestinian people." According to a
Palestinian source present at the meeting, the ferocity of the
outburst even surprised long-time Arafat associates. This
followed a number of attacks on Abu Mazen recently by Fatah
Central Committee members, and his recent resignation from the
central committee. Abu Mazen also offered to resign as prime
minister. Arafat's associates have accused Abbas of crimes
ranging from misconduct in negotiations with Israel to conspiring
with Israel to keepArafat under siege in Ramallah. But in the
latest twist -- the honor amongst thieves -- Abu Mazen and
Arafat announced they've worked out their differences.
So here we are, watching this "old movie" again, Arafat again is
being blamed for holding up the peace process, now he's
interfering with Abu Mazen's "attempts" to move along the
roadmap. As Sharon aide Raanan Gissin recently said Israel told
the United States "that we would have no other choice but to re-
examine the status and condition of Mr. Arafat due to the fact
that he continues to attempt to scuttle the road map to peace and
undermine Abu Mazen and his government in his efforts to
implement the road map." But other Israeli officials say that
deportation is not being discussed, rather, how Arafat can be
neutralized.
Before leaving for his recent three-day visit to Britain and
Norway, Sharon accused the Europeans of undermining PA
Prime Minister Abbas by maintaining contact with Arafat. "He
controls the larger part of their armed forces, still part of the
money, and he got all those telephone calls from leaders, mostly
from Europe, and he receives messages, ministers of foreign
affairs and others," Sharon said. "Every act of this nature only
postpones the progress in the process. Most European countries
are doing that. By that they are undermining Abu Mazen. This is
a major mistake. I hope with time they will understand this."
But the British didn't buy it. Sharon urged Britain to cut ties with
Arafat during talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in
London. A British official said Straw "made it clear that the
British position, which is also that of the European Union is that
we would continue to have dealings with Arafat, who is the
democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority."
Later that day Sharon had dinner with the British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, who rebuffed his attempt to persuade Britain to sever
all contact with Yasser Arafat.
There you have it. The commercials come on, you start to get
tired, and ask yourself is it worth it to stay up, push yourself, and
watch the ending. You've seen this flick before. You know how
it's going to end. And like an old movie you've seen before, you
hope the bad guys "gonna' get it". Arafat should be tried in Israel
like Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. But you know the
ending, he's "gonna' get away" again!
Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. He
has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy
Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views
and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at:
www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko (c) 2003/5763 Pasko
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